Integrating Realization into Life
Relax Body and Mind, Move Slowly, and Abide in a Soft Heart
The empirical practice is conducted under the guidance of the subconscious, with the purpose of forming subconscious concentration; in daily life, we mainly use conscious thinking.
“Empirical practice and daily life,” at its core, is about how to transform conscious thinking into subconscious thinking. Therefore, we need to live according to the needs and goals of our empirical practice, adjusting our way of life accordingly.
Why is this necessary?
Because in daily life, we are accustomed to using conscious thinking and selective attention, often resulting in a scattered state that forms habitual scatter in the subconscious, creating unhealthy subconscious patterns.
Our empirical practice must be led by the subconscious, which does not distinguish truth from falsehood. Thus, during empirical practice, these unhealthy subconscious patterns will obstruct our progress and may even lead us astray. Hence, the primary task of empirical practice is how to transform the subconscious. Without this transformation, empirical practice cannot succeed.
To transform the subconscious, we must start from everyday life and make our lifestyle aligned with the needs of empirical practice. Therefore, the core issue of “empirical practice and daily life” is subconscious transformation. Practices such as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness used in life ultimately aim at transforming the subconscious as well.
What we need to do in daily life is: relax body and mind; move slowly; and abide in a soft heart.
-Master Qingliangyue
Drop Choosing
Deepen Concertration
Breath
Drowsiness
Subtle body/Mind cues
Less thinking, More Sensing
Subconscious Lead
Enter Inner Retreat
Simplify Habits
Food,Clothing,Shelter
Calm the Senses
Daily Routine and Empirical Practice
Fully Utilizing Daily Routine Time for Practice
We must make full use of our daily routine time for empirical practice. Our cultivation must be integrated with life, and one important aspect of this integration is aligning with our daily routine. Another aspect of integration is frequently entering meditative states (dhyana); by doing so, you can use everyday life itself as the object of meditation, rather than relying on specially designated objects of observation.
If you always rely on specially designated observation objects as your meditation focus, it becomes easy to become disconnected from life. Once disconnected from life, it will be very difficult to resolve the problem of birth and death, because birth and death are nothing but life itself—birth and death cannot be separated from life.
As long as, in daily life, we are able to keenly observe life phenomena and use life itself as the object of empirical practice, then we will certainly be able to resolve birth and death. This is an important point to keep in mind during empirical practice.
-Master Qingliangyue
